Only vocalisations given during copulations with adult males were recorded.
At the same time, females called less often when mating with high-ranking males, and these calls showed a higher inhale per exhale rate than those given during copulations with low-ranking males.
So in a similar way to the anthropoid primates [27], the C. sphinx females (like most animals, see [28]) are not passive during copulation but rather communicate with the male, in this case by licking his penis.
Mucosal immunity is related to its own function, such as maintenance of embryonic development during pregnancy and female reproductive organ functioning during copulation; when in contact with the external environment, the lower portion of the female genital tract is susceptible to various microorganisms.
In our search for putative factors that are involved in cVA degradation we noted that an extracellular carboxylesterase (EC 3.1.1.1), Esterase-6 (Est-6; CG6917), which is transferred during copulation to the female with the seminal fluid [ 23], hydrolyzes cVA in vitro [ 24].
In some tsetse flies, the males have been documented to stimulate the female internally with their aedaegus during copulation, prior to insemination [ 18, 33- 35].
Whether copulation calls (i.e. vocalisations during copulation) also vary in structure in accordance with female sex hormone levels and thus potentially function to indicate female reproductive status is, however, largely unknown.
Furthermore, although diploid males transferred viable sperm during copulation, they sired no daughters: the females with which they mated produced only sons, like virgin females.
The frequency with which females call during copulation is therefore predicted by the degree to which male monopolisation of females occurs.
The male accessory gland is responsible for producing and secreting a mixture of proteins, the male accessory gland proteins (Acps), forming seminal fluid that is transferred along with sperm to females during copulation [ 41].
